A young woman gang
raped on a New Delhi bus was in dire condition as she underwent even more
treatment in a Singapore hospital to save her life.
Dr. Kelvin Loh, chief
executive officer of the Singapore hospital, told Reuters Thursday the woman
was in “an extremely critical condition.”
“Prior to her arrival,
she has already undergone three abdominal surgeries, and experienced a cardiac
arrest in India,” Loh said. “A multidisciplinary team of specialists is taking
care of her and doing everything possible to stabilize her condition.”
The 23-year-old
student had been airlifted
late Wednesday to the intensive care unit of Mt. Elizabeth Hospital in
Singapore, a hospital known for its expertise in multi-organ transplants, after
a week of intensive care treatment in a hospital in Delhi.
She had been raped by
six men, beaten and thrown from a moving bus on Dec. 16.
“Since the day of the
incident, it has been our endeavour to provide her the best of care,” Indian
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement.
The government pledged
to make arrangements for her family to join her “as the treatment may stretch
to many weeks.”
The junior minister
for home affairs, meanwhile, was quoted as promising the government would
publish the names, photos and addresses of convicted rapists on government
websites.
“We are planning to
start in Delhi,” Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh said at a news conference,
according to Agence France Presse.
The details would
appear on the Delhi Police website www.delhipolice.nic.in and the National Crime Records Bureau site ncrb.nic.in, he
said.
In Delhi, police beat
back a fresh attempt Thursday to protest the attack, which has become a
flashpoint for Indian women who are exposed to daily harassment and violence,
Reuters reported.
Hundreds of activists
who gathered to march on India Gate were stopped by police in riot gear armed
with tear gas and water cannons.
“We will win back our
freedom!” the protesters, mostly university students, shouted as they pushed
against barricades on a road leading to the city's landmark monument. They were
demanding safer public transportation and the resignation of the police
commissioner.
New Delhi has the
highest number of sex attacks among India's major cities, with a rape reported
on average every 18 hours, according to the National Crimes Records Bureau.
Rape victims rarely
press charges because of social stigma and fear they will be accused of
inviting the attack. Many women say they structure their lives around
protecting themselves and their daughters from attack.
Singh’s government set
up two committees in response to the protests. One, looking into speeding up
sexual assault trials, has already received 6,100 email suggestions.
The second will
examine what lapses might have contributed to the rape — which took place on a
moving bus that passed through police checkpoints — and suggest measures to
improve women’s safety.
“Let me state
categorically that the issue of safety and security of women is of the highest
concern to our government,” Singh said at a development meeting. He urged
officials in India’s states to pay special attention to the problem.
“There can be no
meaningful development without the active participation of half the population,
and this participation simply cannot take place if their security and safety is
not assured,” he said.
Protests have shut
down the centre of the capital for days since the rape. Police quashed some of
the demonstrations with tear gas, water cannons and baton charges.
One
police officer died Tuesday after collapsing during a weekend protested. Police said an
autopsy showed the officer had a heart attack that could have been caused by
injuries suffered during violence at the protest.
An Associated Press
journalist at the scene said the officer was running toward the protesters with
a group of police when he collapsed on the ground and began frothing at the
mouth and shaking.
Two protesters rushed
to the officer to try to help him. Police charged eight people with murder in
the death of the policeman.
Police said the rape
victim was travelling on the
evening of Dec. 16 with a male friend on a bus when they were attacked by six
men who gang-raped her and beat the couple with iron rods before stripping them
and dumping them on a road. All six suspects in the case have been arrested,
police said.
B.D. Athani, the
medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where the woman had
been treated, said she suffered severe intestinal and abdominal injuries,
underwent three surgeries and had parts of her intestines removed, according to
the Press Trust of India.
“With fortitude and
courage, the girl survived the after-effects of the injuries so far well. But
the condition continues to be critical,” he was quoted as saying.
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